Overview
Real Madrid won 3 valuable points in La Liga at the weekend before defeating Barcelona 2-1 at the Bernabeu, thereby widening the gap with the defending champion to 5 points on the rankings.
Under the leadership of Xabi Alonso, Los Blancos are showing almost perfect form. They have won 9 out of 10 matches in La Liga, lost only to Atletico Madrid, and also won all 3 opening matches of the Champions League group stage.
In the context of Barcelona being late in the field, Real Madrid has the opportunity to temporarily widen the gap to 8 points if they win this early match. This could also be a perfect warm-up before the predictedly difficult away trip to Liverpool in the Champions League in the middle of next week.
Head-to-head record is leaning towards Real, with 111 wins after 213 meetings with Valencia in all competitions. However, they also did not forget the pain of Los Che's 2-1 defeat at the Bernabeu last season. That defeat gave Xabi Alonso and his students more motivation to fight back.
Los Blancos are currently aiming for their sixth consecutive victory in all competitions. If they maintain this form, they can completely end the period before the November international break with 2 more wins in hand.
On the other hand, Valencia entered the away match at the Bernabeu with some confidence after a 5-0 victory over Maracena in the first round of Copa del Rey.
However, it is undeniable that Los Che are having a disappointing start in La Liga 2025-2026. They are currently ranked 18th on the rankings - a position in the group holding the red light.
Carlos Corberan's team just suffered a 0-2 defeat at home to Villarreal, thereby extending the streak of poor results. After 10 rounds, Valencia has only had 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses, earning only 9 points, 2 points more than the bottom team Girona.
Compared to the image of a great power in Spanish football, Valencia is now increasingly losing its position. They finished 12th last season and have only reached the top 10 once in the last 3 seasons, while the 2022-2023 campaign struggled in 16th place to stay in the league.
The last time Los Che were in the top 4 was 7 years ago, in the 2018-2019 season. Now, the dream of returning to the group to participate in the European Cup seems to be still very far away for them. This is a sad reality for a team that has a glorious history and is always proud of its attacking identity imbued with Mestalla.
Personnel situation
Real Madrid have just received news that Dani Carvajal will have to sit out for longer than expected after knee surgery. Meanwhile, Antonio Rudiger is still absent due to a serious muscle injury.
David Alaba's calf injury needs to be assessed before the match starts, but another player who will definitely not be present in the match against Valencia is Andriy Lunin.
For Valencia, Mouctar Diakhaby, Largie Ramazani and Dimitri Foulquier will definitely not be able to play due to injury, while Lucas Bel Tran and Filip Ugrinic need to be checked for health.
Arnaut Danjuma and Hugo Duro have both scored four goals for Valencia this season, so there is a high possibility of starting. Baptiste Santamaria will also take up a position in midfield, while experienced player Jose Gaya is a notable name in the away team's defense.
Expected lineup:
Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Militao, Huijsen, Carreras, Guler, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius.
Valencia: Agirrezabala, correia, tarrega, Copete, Gaya, Rioja, Pepelu, Santamaria, Lopez, Duro, Danjuma.
The match between Real Madrid and Valencia takes place at 3:00 am on November 2 (Vietnam time).
